Mental Health: 5 Steps to Positivity in Recovery!

As most of you will, most likely, not know, unless you've been following my blog for a couple of years and have witnessed my disappearances before... I suffer from a mental illness, that mental illness being Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder, also known as Borderline Personality Disorder (I also have an eating disorder but that stems from the EUPD).

Recently I've been having a pretty bad time, and spent some time on the local psych ward this week for respite, as I wasn't coping at hope. My illness is episodic and most of the time I can cope with everyday life, but every so often things get too much. So I thought I'd do a post on my thoughts about recovery and how to start recovering from scratch.

1. Forgive yourself straight away if you slip up on the road to recovery.

Recovery isn't easy and you won't necessarily succeed the first time you try to get back on track. For example if you have an addiction to something like self harm, and you slip up and end up doing it again, just remember tomorrow is a new day and you can start again, forgive yourself as you'd forgive a good friend and be kind to yourself! You deserve it!

2. Accept help!

You may need support to guide you back onto the right road if you start to slip, so be prepared to accept professional and familial help during your recovery. I recommend building a relationship with a professional so that you have someone you trust who knows what they're doing so that you can offload knowing that they won't worry overly about you (it is their job to listen after all!).

3. You never go completely back to square one.

Remember that even if you have a bad day, you never return to the way you were before you started recovery. It may be a long journey but you'll always be learning new skills which you can apply to different situations to cope. Every day is a new start if you slip up, but it's never completely fresh, you still have your experiences which you have learnt from!

4. Focus on goals.

Set simple goals, whether it be just to get out of bed one day and brush your teeth, or whether it be to write a poem or call a friend. Do things you enjoy and set big goals to stay focussed on for the future. Mine would be  to get a first in my first year of University!

5. Self care is key!

Remember to look after yourself, and do the simple things. Eating and sleeping are very important during recovery, and also pampering and treating yourself can be useful for positivity. Do things you enjoy and indulge the creative mind, buy a new notebook and pen and write down your thoughts; have a cup of herbal tea to help you sleep or wear your favourite fancy outfit just around the house. It all centres on what makes you as an individual happy!

I've been in and out of recovery for the past five years, and I'm getting there, and I believe that anyone can recover. I've seen people transition from seriously mentally ill to fully able to function and it's amazing. Have someone pray for you if you have faith, anything is possible with God! I'll be praying that this inspires some people to take active steps on the road to recovery.

Thank you for reading,

God bless!

Louise <3